There are a variety of standards for encoding and compressing video data. Among the standards are MPEG-2, the ITU-H.264 Standard (H.264) (also known as MPEG-4, Part 10, and Advanced Video Coding), and VC-1.
A decoder that is capable of decoding video data encoded with numerous standards is also capable of decoding a greater amount of video content. However, the foregoing standards have a number of differences that complicate the decoding.
The MPEG-2, H.264, and VC-1 standards have a number of differences. For example, MPEG-2 uses 2 D variable length coding while VC-1 uses 3 D Variable Length Coding, and AVC uses CABAC/CAVLC.
Additional limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.